German convicted on war crime charge over IS stint in Syria

September 24, 2018

BERLIN (AP) — A German man has been convicted of being an accessory to a war crime for filming the abuse of a captive while he was with the Islamic State group in Syria.

Monday’s verdict at the Frankfurt state court was the second against the 32-year-old, identified only as Abdelkarim E. B. in accordance with German privacy rules. He was already convicted in 2016 of membership in a terrorist organization, among other charges.

The court sentenced him to 10 years in prison, including 8 ½ years from the earlier conviction.

It found that he was in Syria from Sept. 2013 to Feb. 2014 and during that time filmed IS members beating and kicking a captive, and threatening him with torture, in an attempt to make him talk.